United States presidential election, 1820
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The United States presidential election of 1820 was the third and last presidential election in United States history in which a candidate ran effectively unopposed. (The previous two were the presidential elections of 1789 and 1792, in which George Washington ran without serious opposition.)
President James Monroe and Vice President Daniel D. Tompkins were re-elected without a serious campaign.
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[edit] Background
The previous four years had coincided with the start of the Era of Good Feeling. International tensions were at a minimum with the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The federal government had become effectively single-party, as the Federalist Party had collapsed as a national party, and no new opposition party had arisen to take its place.
The United States had expanded in the previous four years as well. Florida Territory had been bought from Spain, and five new states had been admitted to the union: Mississippi (1817), Illinois (1818), Alabama (1819), Missouri (1820), and Maine (1820).
[edit] Nominations
The (Democratic) Republican Congressional nominating caucus renominated the incumbent President James Monroe and the incumbent Vice President Daniel D. Tompkins. The Federalist caucus did not nominate anyone.
[edit] General election
[edit] Campaign
There was effectively no campaign, since there was no serious opposition to Monroe and Tompkins.
[edit] Disputes
On March 6, 1820, Congress had passed a law directing Missouri to hold a convention to form a constitution and a state government. This law stated that “…the said state, when formed, shall be admitted into the Union, upon an equal footing with the original states, in all respects whatsoever.”[1] However, Congress reconvened in November 1820, the admission of Missouri became an issue of contention. Proponents claimed that Missouri had fulfilled the conditions of the law and therefore it was a state; detractors contended that certain provisions of the Missouri constitution violated the United States Constitution.
By the time Congress was due to meet to count the electoral votes from the election, this dispute had lasted over two months. The counting raised a ticklish problem: if Congress counted Missouri's votes, that would count as recognition that Missouri was a state; on the other hand, if Congress failed to count Missouri's vote, that would count as recognition that Missouri was not a state. Knowing ahead of time that Monroe had won in a landslide and that Missouri's vote would therefore make no difference in the final result, the Senate passed a resolution on February 13, 1821 stating that if a protest were made, there would be no consideration of the matter unless the vote of Missouri would change who would become President. Instead, the President of the Senate would announce the final tally twice, once with Missouri included and once with it excluded.[2]
The next day this resolution was introduced in the full House. After a lively debate, it was passed. Nonetheless, during the counting of the electoral votes on February 14, 1821, an objection was raised to the votes from Missouri by Representative Arthur Livermore of New Hampshire. He argued that since Missouri had not yet officially become a state that Missouri had no right to cast any electoral votes. Immediately, Representative John Floyd of Virginia argued that Missouri's votes must be counted. A kerfuffle ensued. Order was finally restored with the counting of the vote as per the resolution and then adjournment for the day.[3]
[edit] Results
In all, 235 electors were appointed, but three deceased electors, one each from Pennsylvania, Mississippi, and Tennessee, were not replaced prior to votes being cast.
The sole electoral vote against Monroe came from William Plumer, an elector from New Hampshire and former United States senator and New Hampshire governor. Plumer cast his electoral ballot for then-Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. While some accounts say that this was to ensure that Washington remained the only American president unanimously chosen by the Electoral College, others claim it was out of a sincere belief that Monroe was not the best choice. Plumer also eschewed voting for Tompkins for Vice President, instead voting for Richard Rush.
Even though every member of the Electoral College was pledged to James Monroe, there were still a number of Federalist electors who voted for a Federalist vice president. The votes for Richard Stockton came from Massachusetts. The entire Delaware delegation voted for favorite son Daniel Rodney for Vice President. Finally, Robert Goodloe Harper's vice presidential vote was cast by an elector from his home state of Maryland.
| Presidential Candidate | Party | Home State | Popular Vote(a), (b) | Electoral Vote | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | Percentage | ||||
| James Monroe | Republican | Virginia | 87,343 | 80.6% | 228 / 231(c) |
| John Quincy Adams | Republican | Massachusetts | — | — | 1 |
| (Federalist electors) | Federalist | (n/a) | 17,465 | 16.1% | 0 |
| Dewitt Clinton | (none) | New York | 1,893 | 1.7% | 0 |
| (unpledged electors) | (none) | (n/a) | 1,658 | 1.5% | 0 |
| Total | 108,359 | 100.0% | 229 / 232(c) | ||
| Needed to win | 115 / 117(c) | ||||
Source (Popular Vote): U.S. President National Vote. Our Campaigns. (February 9, 2006).
Source (Electoral Vote): Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996. Official website of the National Archives. (July 30, 2005).
(a) Only 15 of the 24 states chose electors by popular vote.
(b) Those states that did choose electors by popular vote had widely varying restrictions on suffrage via property requirements.
(c) There was a dispute as to whether Missouri's electoral votes were valid, due to the timing of its assumption of statehood. The first figure excludes Missouri's votes and the second figure includes them.
| Vice Presidential Candidate | Party | State | Electoral Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daniel D. Tompkins | Republican | New York | 215 / 218(a) |
| Richard Stockton | Federalist | New Jersey | 8 |
| Daniel Rodney | Federalist | Delaware | 4 |
| Robert Goodloe Harper | Federalist | Maryland | 1 |
| Richard Rush | Republican | Pennsylvania | 1 |
| Total | 229 / 232(a) | ||
| Needed to win | 115 / 117(a) | ||
Source: Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996. Official website of the National Archives. (July 30, 2005).
(a) There was a dispute over the validity of Missouri's electoral votes, due to the timing of its assumption of statehood. The first figure excludes Missouri's votes and the second figure includes them.
[edit] Breakdown by ticket
| Presidential Candidate | Running Mate | Electoral Vote |
|---|---|---|
| James Monroe | Daniel D Tompkins | 215 / 218(a) |
| James Monroe | Richard Stockton | 8 |
| James Monroe | Daniel Rodney | 4 |
| James Monroe | Robert Goodloe Harper | 1 |
| John Quincy Adams | Richard Rush | 1 |
(a) There was a dispute over the validity of Missouri's electoral votes, due to the timing of its assumption of statehood. The first figure excludes Missouri's votes and the second figure includes them.
Note that all of these tickets except Monroe/Tompkins and Adams/Rush are split tickets, with a Republican presidential candidate and a Federalist vice presidential candidate. Note also that these split tickets represent only 5.6% of the electoral vote.
[edit] Electoral college selection
| Method of choosing Electors | State(s) |
|---|---|
| each Elector appointed by state legislature | Alabama Delaware Georgia Indiana Louisiana Missouri New York South Carolina Vermont |
| each Elector chosen by voters statewide | Connecticut Mississippi New Hampshire New Jersey North Carolina Ohio Pennsylvania Rhode Island Virginia |
| state is divided into electoral districts, with one Elector chosen per district by the voters of that district | Illinois Kentucky Maryland Tennessee |
|
Maine Massachusetts |
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ United States Congress (1820). United States Statutes at Large, Act of March 6, ch. 23, vol. 3, 545–548. Retrieved on 2006-08-09.
- ^ United States Congress (1821). Senate Journal, 16th Congress, 2nd Session, February 13, 187–188. Retrieved on 2006-07-29.
- ^ (1856) Annals of Congress, 16th Congress, 2nd Session, February 14, 1821, Gales and Seaton, 1147–1165. Retrieved on 2006-07-29.
[edit] References
- A Historical Analysis of the Electoral College. The Green Papers. Retrieved on March 20, 2005.
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